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AUBURN — At a recent annual meeting, the Androscoggin Historical Society elected Penny Jessop as a new member of the board of directors.
She has been an active member of the society, creating and hosting a program at the society’s Knight House, offering children the experience of daily life in the nineteenth century.
She tells children, “Once your chores are finished, you may play!” She has also portrayed, under the tutelage of Donna Berry, a schoolmarm in the 1850, one-room West Auburn School, recently acquired by the Androscoggin Historical Society.
Retiring after 30+ years in public education, Jessop has little idle time on her hands. She is a certified master naturalist and has continued working with her favorite people — students of all ages — by sharing with them her passion for learning. Trained as an elementary school teacher with degrees from Westbrook and Wheelock colleges, she plies her trade in the field at Thorncrag Sanctuary as a nature interpreter (She helped create the Nature Week Summer Program of the Stanton Bird Club.), in the Lewiston Public Library with both the Book Reach and nature programs, and as a guide and volunteer for her friends at the Garden, a memory care unit affiliated with Thornton Hall in Brunswick.
She eagerly anticipates exploring and developing educational outreach programs for the society, especially those involving young children, whose natural curiosities make it easy for them to connect with the past through interactive opportunities.
The society is has welcomed her to the board and expects to benefit greatly from her natural enthusiasm as an environmental educator and free-lance historical interpreter.
PHOTO: Penelope Jessop
